Feed mechanism for rotary-drum driers



J. P. DEVINE FEED MECHANISM FOR ROTARY DRUM DRIERS- Filed August 7. 1923 2 sheets-sheet 1 Aug. 24 1926.

J. P. DEVINE FEED MECHANISM FOR ROTARY DRUM DRIERS Filed Aj ust .7. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 feeding the material to e vention is used may be of any suitable drum w 'ch revolves in the direction indi usual construction drum Patented .....24, 1926.

UNITED-STATES- Josnrn r. nnvnm, (in

run MECHANISM F018 Application fled August fl,

This invention relates to rotary drum driers, and particularl tothe. means for dried thereto.

The objects of the invention are to provide means of improved construction for providing a constant and uniform supply --of the material to be dried to the drum so that the surface of the drum will be uniforml coated with this material; also to provi e means ofimproved'construction for regulating the level of the liquid in the feed tank; also to provide 4 apparatus of this kind with a feed roll of improved construc tion for ensurin an even distribution of material in the rying drum;..andalso to improve the construction of apparatusof iiaihids kind in other respects hereinafter speci- In the accompanying drawings:;

Fig. 1 "is a side elevation of a rotary drum drier provided with a feed mechanism embodying the invention.

, Fig. 2 1s a fragmentary top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation thereof on line 3-3, Fig. 1.

The rotary drum drier on which myi i15- n a that shown includmg a drum A, the outer surface of which is exposed to the atmosphere and the interior of which is connected with a suitable supply ofsteam or other he'atingmedium. The. drum is mounted on a frame includinga air ofend frame members or legs B on w ich the parts of the drier are supported. The material to be dried is supplied to a feed trough G of one wall of the trot ghbeing formed by the cylindrical face of the dryin drum, and the trough is su ,plied. with uid which is coated on the rying cated'bythearrow on Fig. 3. Afterthe has made nearl a complete revolution, the dried materia' is removed from the drum by means of ak'nife or scraper D and discharged intoa conveyor trough d having a spiral conveyor (1' therein which discharges'the dried; material from themachine. .All of these parts have heretofore been used in connection with rotary.drum driers and may be of any suitable construction. It will'also be understood. that this invention is not limited to use in connec tion with driers of the particular construction shown in the drawings, but may be surname, NEW YORK.

penny-DRUM names.

192:. Serial at. 656,227

of the trough, the liquid being at a higher 1pc and lower at points eed pipe. In order to level near the feed distant from the overcome this objection, the following construction is preferably employed.

An upper supply tank or trough E is arcustomary to reguranged near the upper portion of the feedtrough C and the material to be dried is supplied to the supply trough in any suitable manner. This supply trough may be connected with the feed trough either by means of the ing drawings, bymeans of a plurality of a single aperture disposed lengthwise of alpertures spaced at intervals lengthwise "of e trough, such as pipes e, and adapted to tank E to different portions ofthe feed trough, or as shown in the accompany-1 conduct; liquid from the supply trough or trough C. Bymeans of this construction a substantially, uniform supply of liquid is insured'throughout the length of the feed trough.

In order tom'aintain the liquid in the feed trough at any desired level, either a slot shaped, horizontally disposed aperture 'or'a plurality of smaller apertures spaced at intervals horizontally and len hwise of the drier may be provided. 'In t e construction shown, a plurality of short overflow pipes F connect the feed trough C with an overflow tank or trough G- which ,is preferably arranged at a side of the drier adjacent to the feed trough. -Each- 0 the pipes F is" Tprovided with means for re lating the level of the liquid in the feed trough b varying the level of an end' of the over ow pipe.

In the construction shownfor this purpose, each overflow pipe is connected at the dis charge end thereof with an elbow or L- shaped pipe section f which is adapted to be turned about its connection with'the pipe F. Theo en end if of the elbow is consequently ad ustable'to different elevations in the overflow trough, so that the level of the liquid in the eed troughmay be varied as f desired by merely swinging the elbows of the overflow pipes to'ditferent angular positions, the elbows maintaining the maximum levelof liquid in the feed trough when arranged in upright positions, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.. By providing an overflow at a plurality of points spaced at intervals,

' B the level of the liquid in the feedstank may.

be easily maintained uniform throughout the tank, and'if it is desired to change the level of the liquid, this can easily be done by setting elbows of the overflow pipes E into different angular positions: The supply of liquid to the supply tank can be easily regu lated by a ta'lve or other means, not "shown," so that very little liquid passes through the overflow pipes into the overflow tank or trough.

In order to insure a uniform drying of the material on the drum, it is necessary to coat the material to be dried uniformly on the drum and with some kinds of material, this is a difficult problem, articularly with materials, such for examp e, as buttermilk, which are not of uniform consistency. I have found that if a chilled or cooled roll is used to press a lactic material, such as buttermilk, on the drying drum, the-material will notadhere to the cold .roll and will be pressed or flattened by the roll into a uni-. form layer. In the construction shown for this urpos,a hollow roll H is employed,

whic -is arranged with its periphery at a short distance from the periphery of the drum, and a suitable cooling medium, such as cold water, is preferably passed through the roll in any suitable manner, for example by means of an inlet pipe in at one end of the roll and a discharge pipe 72. at the other end thereof, these pipes having a suitable connection with the roll whereby the roll is free to turn relatively to the pipes. Means.

are also. rovided for turning the roll at fsubstantia ly the same peripheral speed as the drying drum, gears 72. and it being shown for this pur se, which may be driven in any suitab e manner.. This roll -resses the material'on the drying drum fl own to a layer of uniform thicknessand by coohngthe roll, it has "been found that such materials as, for example, buttermilk,

. will not adhere to the roll.

Theapparatus described is particularly well adaptedfor drying-such materials as are not of uniform consistency and are apt to contain lum s which interfere with the operation of t e usual float valves, com monly employed for maintaining a level in the feed trough, and the lumps in the ma-. terial, in adhering to the surface of the drying drum are flattened out by the cooled roll H, so that buttermilk and other liquids can be dried in the machine described to produce a uniformly dried material and without necessitating the frequent stopping of the machine to remove obstructions from the liquid supply means. The provision of means for ensuring a uniform level in the feed trough of the material to be dried in- Y sures a uniform coating of the. drying cylinder or drum, which also tends to produce a uniformly dried material;

'. I claim as my invention:

1. In a rotary drum drier, the combination of a drying drum, a feed trough adapted to maintain material to be'dried in contact with said drum, a plurality of pipes arranged at intervals throughout the length of said feed trough and adapted to supply liquid to said trough, and a plurality of overflow pipes connected with said feed trough and also arranged at intervals lengthwise thereof and adJustable independently of each other for controlling the level of liquid in said feed trough.

2. -In a rotary drum drier, the combination of a drying drum, afeedtrough adapted to contain material to be dried and ar ranged in contact with said drum, a plurality" of pipes arranged at intervals throughout the length of said feed, trough and adapted to suppiliy liquid to said trough, a plurality of over 0 trough, and'means on each of said overflow pipes for regulating the height of an end of each pipe to control the level of liquid in said feed trough.-

3. -In a rotary drum drier, the combination of a drying drum, a feed trough adapted to contain material to be dried and arranged in contact with said drum, meansfor suppl ing liquid to said feed trough, and a w pipes connected with said feed ranged in contact with said drum, means for supplying liquid to said feed trough, an overow pipe connected with said feed trough, and a bent pipe section having at one end a swiveled connection with said overflow pipe, whereby the other end thereof may be 3.1".

. ranged at difierent elevations to control the level of liquid in said trou h.

5. In a rotary drum dr er, the combinainto which said tion of a drying drum, a feed trough adapted to contaln material to be dried and arranged in contact with said drum, a supply tank arranged near the upper portion of said feed trough, a plurality of pipes connecting said supply tank with said ,feed' trough and arranged at intervals lengthwise of the feed trough, overflow pipes also connected with said feed trough and spaced at intervals lengthwise of the trough, and adjustable means on said overflow pipes for regulating the elevation of the ends of said pipes to control the level of liquid in the feed trough.

6. In a rotary drum drier, the combination of a drying drum, 3, feed trough adapted to contain material to be dried and an ranged in contact with said drum.- a supply tank arranged near the upper portion of said feed trough, a plurality of pipes connectin said supply tank with said feed trough and arranged at intervals lengthwise of the feed trough, overflow pipes also connected with said feed trough and spaced at intervals lengthwise of the trough, each of said overflowpipes being provided at its discharge end with a bent pipe having a swiveled connection with the overflow pipe to permit the other end thereof to be movedto different elevations for regulating the level of liquid in said feed trough, and an overflow trough overflow pipes are adapted to discharge. I

7. In a rotary drum drier, the combination oi? a drying drum, a feed trough adapted to contain material to be dried, an aperture arrangement throughout the length of the feed trough and adapted to supply ed to contain material to be dried, means to supply liquid to said feed trough on more than one point along its length, means for providing overflow on more than one point along its length and means for independently controlling said overflow at different points.

9. In a rotary drum drier, the combination of a drying drum, a feed trough adapted to contain material to be dried, an aperture arrangement provided in the upper por tion of the feed trough and adapted to supply liquid to said feed trough on more than one pointalong its length, and an aperture arrangement provided in the lower portion of the feed trough connecting said feed troughwith a receptacle adapted to provide an overflow at more than one point along the length of the feed trough, and means to regulate the level of the overflow independently at different points. i

JOSEPH P. DEVINE. 

